In particular, in the European Union, India, Norway and Brazil, our applications in respect of the Skype name are being opposed by BSkyB plc., a British satellite broadcaster, Internet service and telephony service provider, or by one of its affiliates. These oppositions are based on BSkyB’s claimed rights with respect to the mark “SKY".

To date, we have successfully defended these oppositions in Switzerland and Turkey and to date have received a positive decision in Brazil. However, on July 6, 2010, we received a negative first instance decision from the European Union trademark registry (OHIM) on BSkyB’s opposition proceeding against the Skype bubble logo trademark application.

Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

-- Sun Tzu

Market players often toss around trite little sayings like "buy low and sell high", "never short a dull market" and "buy the rumor, sell the news". They all contain an element of truth, but there is one aphorism that is probably more accurate than most: Don't fight the Fed.

The idea behind that saying isn't difficult to understand. The Fed controls the money supply, and the money supply drives the stock market. When interest rates are low and there is lots of cheap money, much of it will flow into the market and drive up prices.

The action in the market since the low in March 2009 is a particularly good example of how the Fed can drive the market. What drove the rally wasn't major economic recovery or bullish sentiment -- it was a flood of cheap dollars that had few good investment alternatives. That money was parked in the market and just kept us running higher, often in a technically unusual fashion.

So the question for us to ponder later today, when the FOMC issues its latest interest-rate decision, is whether there is a new market driver that we need to embrace. It is a particularly important decision this time, because there has been much speculation lately that continued softness in unemployment and the danger of deflation supports further monetary easing by the Fed.

Critics of another round of quantitative easing believe that the Fed doesn't have room to do much, as interest rates are already effectively zero. In addition, the problem doesn't seem to be the availability of cheap capital, but the lack of confidence of both potential borrows and lenders. The economic future is too uncertain, especially with taxes rising, the federal deficit growing and the impact of costly new programs like the health-care bill. It isn't the supply of cheap capital that is a problem, but the demand for it, so the Fed will not help the economy by perpetuating an endless flood of cheap money.

Most economists don't expect the Fed to make a major move today. At best, it may hint that it is ready, willing and able to produce more accommodative monetary policy as needed. The bulls are going to react favorably to any such hints, not because it is good for the economy, but because it is good for the stock market when there is more cash looking for some sort of return.

As we can see this morning, the market is already quite nervous over what we may see from the central bank. I suspect the policy statement will be quite vague and leave the door open for anything. That will probably disappoint bulls, who are looking for more decisive action by the Fed in reaction to continued weakness in employment.

My style is to not bet on this news, but to play the reaction once it is out. I think there is substantial danger that the market will be disappointed, and I don't want to carry much inventory into the news. Once the announcement is made, we can assess the situation and act accordingly. The way the market is acting right now suggests the bulls may be losing some of the optimism that helped prop us up over the past couple of weeks.

FOMC leaves benchmark Fed Funds rate at 0.00-0.25%, as expectedFed to reinvest maturing agency and MBS securities in treasuriesTo help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the Committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve's holdings of securities at their current level by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities. The Committee will continue to roll over the Federal Reserve's holdings of Treasury securities as they mature. Ten-year Treasury yield sees initial drop to 2.79% from 2.82% following FOMC announcement, then a sharp rally back to 2.81%

To help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the Committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve's holdings of securities at their current level by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities.